In the past, adsorption techniques have been conventionally employed for adsorption of various analytes from solutions by liquid chromatography. This technique consists of two major components, a solvent system and an adsorbent packing material such as an adsorbent of silica gel or aluminum oxide, ion exchange resins or molecular sieves.
Conventionally the solvent system or solution with organic material to be analyzed is passed through the packing material by using some type of differential pressure or force such as by gravity, vacuum pressure, compressed gas, centrifuging or the like. Thus, where time for analysis should be kept short, this necessarily entails costly and space-consuming equipment such as vacuum pumps, valves and gauges, compressed air tanks, centrifuges or the like and a source of energy.
Analysis in the field or away from a laboratory is difficult, time consuming and expensive using known equipment. As an example, analysis of various feed grains and food stuffs for the presence of mycotoxins of one type or another must conventionally be made in the laboratory where sophisticated equipment is readily available. Such mycotoxins are, in minute quantities, potent toxins and carcinogens and require analysis and detection for safeguarding feed grains and the like. There exists a need in the field for a method and apparatus for ready detection of various analytes such as mycotoxins where the detection may be made rapidly and simply and with confidence.